科研成果

Tungsten oxide nanowires (WO3−x) with rich oxygen vacancies (OVs) were fabricated through a facile hydrothermal method, which had both high adsorptive capability and photocatalytic activity. 95.1% of total U(VI) (C0 = 10 mg/L) was removed by WO3−x at pH 5, and 79.9% was transformed to U(IV) to achieve reductive immobilization after photocatalysis under simulated solar light. Band structure and optical characterizations indicated WO3−x had narrower band gap energy, but higher charger carrier separation and transfer rates compared with conventional WO3. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations further demonstrate the spin polarization state electrons of W 5d in WO3−x due to the construction of OVs, thus greatly inhibiting recombination of electron-hole pairs. In addition, the electron density increases in WO3−x and the photogenerated e– in the conduction band of WO3−x has higher reduction ability than WO3, leading to more efficient electron transfer from WO3−x to UO22+ after photo-excitation for U(VI) reduction.

Global hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) cumulative emissions will bemore than 20 Gt CO2-equiv during 2020−2060 and have a non-negligible impacton global warming even in full compliance with the Kigali Amendment (KA).Fluorochemical manufacturers (including multinationals) in China haveaccounted for about 70% of global HFC production since 2015, of which about60% is emitted outside China. This study built an integrated model (i.e., DECAF)to estimate both territorial and exported emissions of China under three scenariosand assess the corresponding climate effects as well as abatement costs. Achievingnear-zero territorial emissions by 2060 could avoid 23 ± 4 Gt CO2-equiv ofcumulative territorial emissions (compared to the 2019 Baseline scenario) during2020−2060 at an average abatement cost of 9 ± 6 USD/t CO2-equiv. Under thenear-zero emission (including territorial and abroad) pathway, radiative forcingfrom HFCs will peak in 2037 (60 ± 6 mW/m2) with a 33% peak reduction and 8years in advance compared to the path regulated by the KA, and the radiative forcing by 2060 will be lower than that in 2019. Accelerated phase-out of HFC production in China could provide a possibility for rapid global HFC abatement and achieve greater climate benefits.

The propagation of antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) greatly endangers the ecological safety and human health. This study employed pyrite (FeS2, naturally abundant mineral) for periodate (PI) activation to disinfect ARB. FeS2/PI system could disinfect 1 × 107 CFU mL−1 of kanamycin-resistant E.coli below the limit of detection in 20 min. Efficient ARB inactivation performance was achieved in pH from 3 to 9, ionic strength from 0 to 300 mM, with HA (0.1–10 mg L−1) in suspension, and in real water samples including tap water, river water and sewage. FeS2/PI system could also efficiently disinfect gentamycin-resistant E.coli and Gram-positive B. subtilis. The generated reactive species including Fe(IV), ·O2– and ·OH would attack cell membrane and overwhelmed intracellular defense system. The intracellular kanamycin resistance genes in cells would be released and then degraded in FeS2/PI system. PI preferred to be adsorbed on Fe site of FeS2 (with lower adsorption energy, more occupancy of bonding state and stronger bonding strength). The subsequent transfer of electron cloud from Fe site to PI would cleave IO bond to generate reactive species. Moreover, FeS2/PI system could also combine with sand filtration system to efficiently capture and disinfect ARB. Therefore, FeS2/PI system is a promising approach to inactivate ARB in different scenarios.

Indoor pollution of manmade semivolatile organic compounds (SVOCs) such as phthalates are a growing threat to human health. Herein we summarize the dust-phase phthalate concentrations in Chinese residences reported from 2011 to 2021 and simulate corresponding airborne concentrations based on equilibrium models. The simulation considers seasonal and regional variations in indoor temperature and PM2.5 concentration, in contrast to the common practice of using constant values. Results show that variations in these two environmental factors lead to up to ten- and six-fold variations in the monthly median gas- and particle-phase concentrations of phthalates, respectively, in residences in individual climate zones. For higher-vapor-pressure species di-n-butyl phthalate and di-isobutyl phthalate, the resultant seasonal and regional variations in aggregate non-diet intake can reach six- and three-fold, respectively. These results have important implications on exposure assessment of SVOCs and epidemiological evaluation of their health effects.

In a reverberant environment, interferences such as reflections and background noise can degrade the perception of the sound source signal. Although the DNN-based methods have made a tremendous breakthrough in addressing this issue, the performance of these models is highly dependent on the completeness of the training dataset, which will limit its generalization under unknown environments. In this article, we propose a physical model-based self-supervised learning (PMSSL) method to realize the DNN model optimization under unknown scenarios. This method incorporates a room reverberation physical model into the sound source enhancement model optimization process, realizing the self-learning of the DNN model under physical constraints. In this process, the time-frequency characteristics of the input signal and the spatial feature of the reverberation environment are utilized for parameter optimization, improving the adaptability of the DNN model under unknown scenarios. Experimental results based on simulated and measured data prove that the proposed method can obtain much more accurate source signal enhancement results compared with the pre-trained models, verifying its effectiveness and adaptability in new environments.

Summary The geographic distribution of plant diversity matches the gradient of habitat heterogeneity from lowlands to mountain regions. However, little is known about how much this relationship is conserved across scales. Using the World Checklist of Vascular Plants and high-resolution biodiversity maps developed by species distribution models, we investigated the associations between species richness and habitat heterogeneity at the scales of Eurasia and the Hengduan Mountains (HDM) in China. Habitat heterogeneity explains seed plant species richness across Eurasia, but the plant species richness of 41/97 HDM families is even higher than expected from fitted statistical relationships. A habitat heterogeneity index combining growing degree days, site water balance, and bedrock type performs better than heterogeneity based on single variables in explaining species richness. In the HDM, the association between heterogeneity and species richness is stronger at larger scales. Our findings suggest that high environmental heterogeneity provides suitable conditions for the diversification of lineages in the HDM. Nevertheless, habitat heterogeneity alone cannot fully explain the distribution of species richness in the HDM, especially in the western HDM, and complementary mechanisms, such as the complex geological history of the region, may have contributed to shaping this exceptional biodiversity hotspot.

The widespread secondary microplastics (MPs) in urban freshwater, originating from plastic wastes, have created a new habitat called plastisphere for microorganisms. The factors influencing the structure and ecological risks of the microbial community within the plastisphere are not yet fully understood. We conducted an in-site incubation experiment in an urban river, using MPs from garbage bags (GB), shopping bags (SB), and plastic bottles (PB). Bacterial communities in water and plastisphere incubated for 2 and 4 weeks were analyzed by 16S high-throughput sequencing. The results showed the bacterial composition of the plastisphere, especially the PB, exhibited enrichment of plastic-degrading and photoautotrophic taxa. Diversity declined in GB and PB but increased in SB plastisphere. Abundance analysis revealed distinct bacterial species that were enriched or depleted in each type of plastisphere. As the succession progressed, the differences in community structure was more pronounced, and the decline in the complexity of bacterial community within each plastisphere suggested increasing specialization. All the plastisphere exhibited elevated pathogenicity at the second or forth week, compared to bacterial communities related to natural particles. These findings highlighted the continually evolving plastisphere in urban rivers was influenced by the plastic substrates, and attention should be paid to fragile plastic wastes due to the rapidly increasing pathogenicity of the bacterial community attached to them.

Ferroelectric diodes can generate a polarization-controlled bidirectional photoresponse to simulate inhibition and promotion behaviors in the artificial neuromorphic system with fast speed, high energy efficiency, and nonvolatility. However, the existing ferroelectric diodes based on ferroelectric oxides suffer from a weak bidirectional photoresponse (below 1 mA/W), difficult miniaturization, and a large response photon energy (over 3 eV). Here, we design a series of van der Waals �−In2Se3/Nb�2 (� = S, Se, and Te) ferroelectric diodes with bidirectional photoresponse by using ab initio quantum transport simulation. These devices show a maximum bidirectional photoresponse of 30 (−19) mA/W and a minimum response photon energy of 1.3 eV at the monolayer thickness. Our work shows advanced optoelectronic applications of the van der Waals ferroelectric diodes in the future artificial neuromorphic system.

Abstract Accurate estimates of aerosol refractive index (RI) are critical for modeling aerosol-radiation interaction, yet this information is limited for ambient organic aerosols, leading to large uncertainties in estimating aerosol radiative effects. We present a semi-empirical model that predicts the real RI n of organic aerosol material from its widely measured oxygen-to-carbon (O:C) and hydrogen-to-carbon (H:C) elemental ratios. The model was based on the theoretical framework of Lorenz-Lorentz equation and trained with n-values at 589 nm () of 160 pure compounds. The predictions can be expanded to predict n-values in a wide spectrum between 300 and 1,200 nm. The model was validated with newly measured and literature datasets of n-values for laboratory secondary organic aerosol (SOA) materials. Uncertainties of predictions for all SOA samples are within 5%. The model suggests that -values of organic aerosols may vary within a relatively small range for typical O:C and H:C values observed in the atmosphere.